Cowan C1, Graham R

1Kāpō Māori Aotearoa, 2Parets of Vision Impaired New Zealand

Biography:

Christina (Chrissie) Cowan (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou): Chief Executive Kāpō Māori Aotearoa; RANZCO Māori and Pacific Eye Health Committee member, Chair RANZCO Māori Data Working Group; Eye Health National Clinical Network member, Co-Chair Eye Health Aotearoa Trust, trustee, Access Matters Aotearoa Trust.

Dr Rebekah Graham: Executive Officer Parents of Vision Impaired; RANZCO Māori Data Working Group member; Eye Health National Clinical Network – Childhood Expert Workstream member and Co-Chair Access Matters Aotearoa Trust.

Abstract:

A recent audit of missed Orthoptic and Optometry clinic appointments in Auckland from 29/7/24 – 23/8/24 identified that 94 (18%) of child patients either missed their appointments or cancelled on the same day of their appointment. Follow up from this indicated that parents were either unavailable or their contact numbers were not working. Broken down by ethnicity, a large proportion of non-attendees were Māori; this group also had low responses to follow-up surveys and phone calls regarding reasons for non-attendance. Data from Waitangi Tribunal Claim #2575 research (documents #B22 and #B24) evidenced that non-attendance of children at ophthalmologic-related appointments in hospitals is nearly twice that for non-Māori. However, data has not yet been collated in a systematic fashion within and across regions, nor do we have robust research undertaken with Māori whānau that explores the barriers and facilitators of child attendance at eye clinics. We seek to meet this gap and to lay the necessary groundwork for developing a full research project that will explore with Māori whānau solutions for improving attendance of children at eye clinics and improve child eye health.